Do you need an ultimate brand guide? What are the basic principles of effective branding? What truly matters in good branding?

In this podcast episode, Sam Carvalho speaks about the ultimate branding guide (Part 1).

Podcast Sponsor: Brighter Vision

Are you looking to build your brand, but don’t know where to begin when it comes to marketing your practice online?

Whether you’re a seasoned clinician in need of a website refresh, or just out of school and need to build your very first therapist website, Brighter Vision is the perfect solution for you. From building your brand and designing a beautiful, customizable website to reflect that, to helping you rank higher with search engines, all of Brighter Vision’s online marketing tools are created specifically for therapists.

If that piqued your interest, keep listening… Right now, Brighter Vision is offering one of their biggest discounts ever during their 4th of July Sale. Sign up for any website package by Friday, July 8th to receive their exclusive tiered discount of $5/month off the START Plan, $10/month off the GROW Plan, or $20/month off the FLOURISH Plan during your first year with Brighter Vision!

All you have to do is go to brightervision.com/joe to learn more and take advantage of this great deal.

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[SAM CARVALHO] Welcome to the Marketing a Practice podcast with me, Sam Carvalho where you’ll discover everything you need to know about marketing and branding your business. To find out more about how I can help you brand new business visit www.practiceofthepractice.com/branding. If you’d like to see some examples of my design work, be sure to follow me on Instagram at Samantha Carvalho Design. Hi, thanks so much for joining me today. Today is a solo episode. It’s just me. It’s been a while since I’ve done one of these. We’ve had a really great string of awesome guests providing you with amazing value over the last while, but yes, I thought it was time for me to just jump on and again, just give you some branding, design, marketing advice. So in today’s episode, I’m actually providing the ultimate branding guide. Well, that’s what I’m terming it anyway. It’s actually going to be a two-part series, so it’s going to be covered today’s episode and next week’s episode, because I basically plan on dumping a ton of information on you all about branding and so I thought it may be overwhelming, a bit too overwhelming to have it brought in one episode. Obviously, this podcast is all about branding, all about marketing your private practice but sometimes it’s helpful to have all the information in one spot, as opposed to previous episodes we have covered different aspects here and there. As we know, branding is equally important for both small and larger businesses, many people, however, perceive branding as just a logo and therefore believe that it’s not an essential component for their marketing success. However, many successful brands have effective branding as branding provides businesses with numerous benefits, such as having a strong identity, personality, and a point of difference, all of which are crucial to help you stand out from the crowd. 86% of consumers feel that authenticity is a major element in determining which brands they enjoy and support. As such your brand is more than just a combination of colors and logos. It’s rarely about your reputation and the impression that you make on clients. So without further ado, here are some of the branding tips that I’ve collected in no particular order to help you build a strong brand for your business. [SAM CARVALHO] Number one is to think analytically branding is not as simple as we’ve said, as having a catch phrase or a logo. A brand that stands out from the crowd is one which is associated with a product’s competitive advantage. As I’ve mentioned before, you really want to, before you get to the visual side of your branding, you really want to actually think about the theoretical side of it first. Why do you do what you do and what makes you different from everybody else? Then you want to build your brand around that. [SAM CARVALHO] Number two is to maintain your brand. Branding is always about consistency. So you want to repeat the same message on all of your marketing material, in your emails, and when you are face to face with your customers. For example, think of Nike who has used, “just do it” as a slogan across all of their marketing campaigns. When you see that tech, or when you hear of Nike, you straight away think of just do it. That’s because of sheer repetition. [SAM CARVALHO] Number three is to target your market. Don’t aim to be the one glove fits all type of brand. The best results are achieved when you focus on your target market, creating a brand that is relevant and an image that speaks directly to them. This also allows you to build strong relationships with your clients and improve your brand value. [SAM CARVALHO] Number four is to ask your clients questions. So part of creating or figuring out who your target audience is, is speaking to your target audience. Unless you know who they are you won’t know how to generate content for them. The client’s perception of your brand is a crucial factor in any marketing strategy. Therefore, conducting client surveys and being open to both positive and negative feedback can only help you build a strong brand. [SAM CARVALHO] Number five, commit yourself to a brand. One rule of thumb is that when you have become tired of your logo, your tagline and your other branding efforts, that’s when they begin to sink in with customers. To remember what I said previously, it’s about repetition, repetition, repetition. So just when you’re getting sick of it, that’s when it’s actually starting to sink in with your clients, so be sure to stick with it, even if it’s a bit ties to you. [SAM CARVALHO] Number six is to create a unique value proposition. A unique value proposition is what makes you different from your competitors. It comes in the form of an effective statement or combination of statements, which describe your business to your clients in a manner which will make them want to engage with you and buy from you. The FAB technique, which stands for features, advantages and benefits is the best way to start to design your value proposition so it rarely communicates to your clients. [SAM CARVALHO] Number seven is to speak with one voice. Speaking with one voice simply means that your marketing communications and messages must be consistent across all mediums so that your clients can identify and understand your product or service. It’s really essential to make sure that you have the same tone and voice across all mediums. [SAM CARVALHO] Number eight is to have a dedicated marketing plan. Many companies come up with ideas to market themselves and establish your brand identity, but have neither the resources nor a plan as to how they will reach their audience. You must have a well thought up marketing plan in place before your branding strategy will work. So it’s one thing to come up with the ideas. It’s a whole nother thing to actually create a plan to put those ideas into action. [SAM CARVALHO] Number nine is to aim to build a strong online presence. The first step to building a strong online presence is to have a website. Every business of any size or industry must have a well-designed website. A website also forms a crucial component of your marketing strategy and establishes the credibility of your brand. You can then start to use effective lead generation tools to build your brand awareness and drive more visitors to your website. Be sure to check out previous episodes that I have done on how to create a website that stands out from the crowd. [SAM CARVALHO] Number 10 is to clearly recognize yourself. The best way to express your story isn’t through snappy titles and eye-catching images. Although that helps, that’s not the focus. There should be a connection between the name of your business and the items or services that you provide. So again, going back to your why, what makes you different and making sure that all the elements of your brand linked together from your name to your logo, to your marketing material, to your content, it all means to be consistent. [SAM CARVALHO] Number 11 is to incorporate your company’s logo into everything you do. Again, repetition. When it comes to branding, logos are much more than just a pretty emblem. It needs to be memorable enough to distinguish your company from the rest of the pack. In many cases, the logo is the first thing new and potential clients will see about your company. Are you looking to build your brand, but don’t know where to begin when it comes to marketing your practice online? Whether you’re a seasoned clinician in need of a website refresh or just out of school and need to build your very first therapist website, Brighter Vision is the perfect solution for you. From building your brand and designing a beautiful customizable website to reflect that, to helping you rank higher with search engines, all of Brighter Vision’s online marketing tools are created specifically for therapists. If that piques your interest, keep listening. Right now, Brighter Vision is offering one of their biggest discounts ever during their 4th of July sale. Sign up for any website package by Friday, July 8th, to receive the exclusive tier discount of $5 per month of the start plan, $10 per month of the grow plan or $20 per month of the flourish plan during your first year with Brighter Vision. All you have to do is go to brightervision.com/joe, to learn more and take advantage of this great deal. That’s brightervision.com/joe. [SAM CARVALHO] Number 12 is to build a brand story and messaging. When establishing your company’s identity, be as specific as possible about your mission and values. Use the tone of voice that you’ve chosen for your brand message. Every piece of content you produce should be linked directly to your brand’s identity and delivered consistently. [SAM CARVALHO] Number 13 is to build memorable brand associations. To every one of us a brand’s meaning is unique, but for many certain brands seem to symbolize extremely specific meanings. For example, when you think of Nike, you think of athletic performance over and above thinking of “just do it.” associating a brand with their person, location, item, or immersion creates a strong connection in our brains. It is more likely than a brand and another notion will be associated in the future when they occur together in somebody’s mind. [SAM CARVALHO] Number 14 long-term planning is essential. You don’t want to trade a long-term brand growth strategy for short term results even if they’re good. In order to establish lasting brands, you have to put in a lot of time and effort. Exercise caution when it comes to following the most recent trends in your field. A lot of current brand trends may end up harming your long-term plan. [SAM CARVALHO] Number 15 is to make it easy for people to understand, make it easy for people to understand what you do. Remember that when someone arrives on your website, for example, they decide whether they’re going to stay or leave literally within the first four or five seconds. So you really want to make sure that it’s clear what you do straight away. Too many names or clever wordplay have no meaning. So while it may be tempting to include that in your branding, rather dumb it down and just make sure that it’s clear from the get go. [SAM CARVALHO] Number 16 is to let your brand tell a story. We know the power of storytelling. I do have an episode about that as well. Let your name slogan and logo tell a story, having a clear message behind your business will allow the client to grasp the pillars that your company embodies straight away. [SAM CARVALHO] Number 17, ask why you are doing this. You have a business that provides a service, but why do you provide that service? Of course, we all want to make money, but selling a service to make money won’t motivate the client to buy into your brand. So ask yourself, what difference will your service make in the lives of the clients who are making use of it? [SAM CARVALHO] Number 18 creates a liquid experience. To many, creating a liquid experience means repeating the same slogans and looks across all platforms. While this is necessary, you also need to consider creating a cohesive branding strategy, but also one that takes into consideration the user and the audience in an intimate way. So why I said repetition, repetition, repetition, you want to think about who you want to reach and then create a cohesive yet customized branding version for a peak client experience. [SAM CARVALHO] Number 19, be creative and approachable. The best company branding is a combination of creativity and approachability. When considering a name logo and brand aesthetic, consider your audience as well as your brand category. The most successful brand adopts a creative spin without deviating too much from what their perspective clients expect from their product or service. [SAM CARVALHO] Number 20 in line with this is to be friendly. Whenever possible, personalize your marketing messages. A great way to do this is in your emails. Don’t be afraid to talk to your clients like they are your friends. Obviously, keep it professional, but be warm and friendly. It’s perfectly okay to have a laugh. [SAM CARVALHO] Number 21 is to pass the radio test. You want to make sure that your company’s name is something that people can spell easily when they first hear it. If they can’t, then you risk missing out on opportunities from people that just couldn’t find you often mistyping your name. [SAM CARVALHO] Number 22 don’t spend too much time creating a perfect tagline. Speaking of taglines and slogans once you’ve got something that works, use it, but don’t dwell too much on making it perfect. Chances are in a few years, your business will grow, expand and change and so might your perfect tagline. [SAM CARVALHO] Number 23, automate your marketing. As we know, there are several software programs that promise to help you automate your marketing funnels online. It’s definitely a good idea to look into these even if you just make use of one or two to automate some processes. It will in the end, save you time and money. [SAM CARVALHO] Number 24 is to know how to use Google AdWords even if you don’t want to do a campaign, just yet. Learn how to set up a campaign because by doing this, you’ll find the relative keywords and even some niche market keywords that will help you build content or target the markets online that you need. So that’s for today’s episode. We’ve covered 24 tips within the ultimate branding guide. Be sure to join me next week for the remaining 24. Thanks again to Brighter Vision for sponsoring this episode. Remember if you want to take advantage of their biggest discount ever be sure to head on over to brightervision.com/joe. Thanks for listening to the Marketing a Practice podcast. If you need help with branding your business, whether it be a new logo, rebrand, or you simply want some print flyer designed head on over to www.practiceofthepractice.com/branding. If you’d like to see some examples of my design work, be sure to follow me on Instagram at Samantha Carvalho Design. Finally, please subscribe, rate, and review this podcast on iTunes if you like what you’ve heard. Talk to you soon. Marketing a Practice podcast is part of the Practice of the Practice podcast network, a network of podcasts seeking to help you market and grow your business and yourself. To hear other podcasts like Beta Male Revolution, Empowered and Unapologetic, Imperfect Thriving, or Faith in Practice, go to practiceofthepractice.com/network. This podcast is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information in regards to the subject matter covered. It is given with the understanding that neither the host, the publisher, or the guests are rendering legal, accounting, clinical, or any other professional information. If you want a professional, you should find one.